Category Archives: All Things Catholic

Spiritual Communion

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Come, my Lord, to this poor dwelling,
You are Lord of all, and heaven is at hand as You approach.
Come in Spirit to my humble abode.
At your coming, the angels make ready.
They spread their wings over Your Mercy Seat.

Come be enthroned here in my heart.
Allow the splendor of heaven
To scatter flowers along Your Way,
As You incline, Your Heart
To one in misery for want of You.

I rejoice for You are here,
And in my embrace.
Your are Now.
You are mine,
O my Beloved.

Heaven finds a home in my soul,
As You reign in my heart.
A river of Life pours forth,
As You water this garden,
And provide rich food and fruit,
For all who will partake.

copyright 2014 Joann Nelander

Cardinal Newman’s Prayer for Humility before God

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“O my God, holiness befits Your house, and yet You make Your home in my heart.  My Lord, My Savior, to me You come hidden under the semblance of earthly things, yet in that very flesh and blood which You took from Mary, You, who first inhabited Mary’s breast, do now come to me. My God, You see me; I cannot see myself.  Were I ever so good a judge about myself, ever so unbiased and with ever so correct a rule of judging, still, from my very nature, I cannot look at myself and view myself truly and wholly.

But You , as You come to me, contemplate me.  When I say, “Lord, I am not worthy,” You, whom I am addressing, alone understand in their fullness the words which I use.  You see how unworthy so great a sinner is, to receive the One Holy God, whom the seraphim adore with trembling.  You see not only the stains and scars of past sins, but also the mutilations, the deep cavities, and the chronic disorders they have left in my soul.  You see the innumerable living sins, though they be not mortal, lining in their power and presence, their guilt and their penalties which clothe me; You see all my bad habits, my insensitive attitudes, my wayward, lawless thoughts, my multitude of infirmities and miseries; yet You come.  You see most perfectly how little I really feel what I am now saying, yet You come.  O my God, left to myself should I not perish under the awful splendor and the consuming fire of Your Majesty? Enable me to bear You, lest I have to say with Peter: ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ ”

Family synod: full text of Pope Francis’s homily at opening Mass | CatholicHerald.co.uk

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via Family synod: full text of Pope Francis’s homily at opening Mass | CatholicHerald.co.uk.

“Today the Prophet Isaiah and the Gospel employ the image of the Lord’s vineyard. The Lord’s vineyard is his “dream”, the plan which he nurtures with all his love, like a farmer who cares for his vineyard. Vines are plants which need much care!

God’s “dream” is his people. He planted it and nurtured it with patient and faithful love, so that it can become a holy people, a people which brings forth abundant fruits of justice.

But in both the ancient prophecy and in Jesus’s parable, God’s dream is thwarted. Isaiah says that the vine which he so loved and nurtured has yielded “wild grapes” (5:2,4); God “expected justice but saw bloodshed, righteousness, but only a cry of distress” (v7). In the Gospel, it is the farmers themselves who ruin the Lord’s plan: they fail to do their job but think only of their own interests.

In Jesus’s parable, he is addressing the chief priests and the elders of the people, in other words the “experts”, the managers. To them in a particular way God entrusted his “dream”, his people, for them to nurture, tend and protect from the animals of the field. This is the job of leaders: to nuture the vineyard with freedom, creativity and hard work.

But Jesus tells us that those farmers took over the vineyard. Out of greed and pride they want to do with it as they will, and so they prevent God from realizing his dream for the people he has chosen.

The temptation to greed is ever present. We encounter it also in the great prophecy of Ezekiel on the shepherds, which St Augustine commented upon in one his celebrated sermons which we have just reread in the Liturgy of the Hours. Greed for money and power. And to satisfy this greed, evil pastors lay intolerable burdens on the shoulders of others, which they themselves do not lift a finger to move.

We too, in the synod of bishops, are called to work for the Lord’s vineyard. Synod assemblies are not meant to discuss beautiful and clever ideas, or to see who is more intelligent… They are meant to better nuture and tend the Lord’s vineyard, to help realise his dream, his loving plan for his people. In this case the Lord is asking us to care for the family, which has been from the beginning an integral part of his loving plan for humanity.

We are all sinners and can also be tempted to “take over” the vineyard, because of that greed which is always present in us human beings. God’s dream always clashes with the hypocrisy of some of his servants. We can “thwart” God’s dream if we fail to let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us that wisdom which surpasses knowledge, and enables us to work generously with authentic freedom and humble creativity.

My Synod brothers, to do a good job of nurturing and tending the vineyard, our hearts and our minds must be kept in Jesus Christ by “the peace of God which passes all understanding” (Phil 4:7). In this way our thoughts and plans will correspond to God’s dream: to form a holy people who are his own and produce the fruits of the kingdom of God.”

via Family synod: full text of Pope Francis’s homily at opening Mass | CatholicHerald.co.uk.